Berlin Championship

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The Berlin Championship was a German ice hockey competition for teams in Berlin, played intermittently from 1909 to 1958.

The inaugural competition was played from January 16-18, 1910 at the Berliner Eispalast. Comprised of 10 teams, Berliner SC won the championship by defeating Berliner FC Preussen in the final.

The second edition was held between November 29 and December 16, 1910 at the Berliner Eispalast. BFC Preussen defeated Berliner SC 2-1 in the final, amid some controversy. The referee, who usually served as a football official and was fairly new to hockey, disallowed a goal scored by Berliner SC, after having initially counted it. He also allowed a goal by BFC, in which the puck had not crossed the line, and thus should not have counted. In another surprising decision, the first half was played for 15 minutes and the second half for 20, instead of the usual 2x20 format.

The third Berlin Championship was played on natural ice, at Lake Lietzensee in Charlottenburg. BFC Preussen retained the title from the previous year, again defeating Berliner SC in the final, this time by a score of 3-1. The 1913 championship was not played due to thaw and the closure of the Berliner-Eispalast. Berliner SC claimed the final pre-World War I Berlin title in 1914.

The next championship was not arranged until 1922. In 1926-27, a competition known as the Norddeutsche Pokalrunde (North German Cup) was contested by teams from Berlin. From 1927-1930, the championship was officially called the Northern Championship.

In 1930-31 the competition was renamed the Brandenburg Championship, with the top-level competition referred to as the Berlin-Liga. The 1930-31 championship was not completed due to warm weather and the Berliner Sportpalast being closed for part of the season. A second-level 1. Klasse competition was first contested in 1929. A third-level 2. Klasse was introduced for 1932-33.

There was no Brandenburg Championship staged in 1935-36 due to the 1936 Winter Olympics. The championships played from 1940-1943 were referred to as the Berliner Kreigsmeisterschaft (Berlin War Championships). The competition was not arranged from 1944-1946, and resumed as the Berlin Championship in 1947.

The Berlin Championship was part of the German Landesliga from 1952-1958. The champion advanced to the promotion round to the top-level Oberliga.

Champions

References

  • Müller, Stephan (2000). Deutsche Eishockey Meisterschaften. Print on Demand. ISBN 3-8311-0997-4. 
  • Karas, Steffen (2008). 100 Jahre Eishockey in Berlin. Verlag Jeske/Mader. ISBN 978-3-931624-57-6.